headsman

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of headsman Several other leading figures of the period ended their days on the executioner’s block, including the unhappy Comte de Chalais, whose headsman bungled the job and ended up frantically chopping away at his screaming victim with a small hatchet. David A. Bell, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2012 Even if your reality is the headsman’s block! Helen Shaw, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2021 Two other men, subjects of excellent Holbein drawings in the show, would keep appointments with the headsman. Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 Once upon a time, the queen could have sent rebels to the Tower and the headsman’s block, even relatives—especially relatives. Matt Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 9 Mar. 2021 The British prime minister has assembled a trio of headsmen to sever Britain from the mainland. Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 22 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headsman
Noun
  • The executioners move toward her, placing the rope over her head.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 20 May 2025
  • Thanks to a last minute call to one of the executioners though, Janine (Madeline Brewer) is pulled from the firing line and spared.
    Matt Cabral, EW.com, 6 May 2025
Noun
  • But since taking office, the president has been tightening up his definition of freedom like a hangman’s noose.
    Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 23 Mar. 2025
  • Our staff plays hangman to pass some time.
    R29 Team, refinery29.com, 7 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • His sister Jody is the executor of his estate and has been serving as owner of the NBA and NFL teams.
    Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 13 May 2025
  • The Grades left no heirs, and in 2013 the Bronx public administrator named the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the National Library of Israel as executors of the Grade estate, and YIVO inherited his papers.
    Andrew Silow-Carroll, Sun Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • These rioters in Los Angeles are fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Los Angeles streets.
    Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 8 June 2025
  • Double murderer Jamon Buggs sentenced to life behind bars as judge rules DA Todd Spitzer violated Racial Justice Act The judge, however, found that since the DA already decided not to seek the death penalty, further sanctions such as reducing the murder charges would not be needed.
    Sean Emery, Oc Register, 5 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Headsman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headsman. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.

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